HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING: Waynesboro tops West Perry in season finale

All’s well that ends well, they say. That’s the way the Waynesboro Indians varsity wrestling regular season ended on Thursday against West Perry on Senior Night at the Waynesboro Area Senior High School gym.

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Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA

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Posted Feb. 1, 2013 at 10:17 AM
Updated Feb 1, 2013 at 10:20 AM

Posted Feb. 1, 2013 at 10:17 AM
Updated Feb 1, 2013 at 10:20 AM

WAYNESBORO — All’s well that ends well, they say.

That’s the way the Waynesboro Indians varsity wrestling regular season ended on Thursday against West Perry on Senior Night at the Waynesboro Area Senior High School gym.

A tribute to the team’s five seniors preceded the meet as Wes Cline, Steven Egolf, Colby Mowen, Andrew Paterno and Jesse Smith were introduced. After a brief warmup by each team, action commenced with the 285-pound match in which the Mustangs got off to a 6-0 lead after a third-period pin.

West Perry won two of the next three bouts to take a 15-6 lead, but the Indians unleashed six straight wins and went on to notch a 46-27 victory.

“That was a desperation win,” said Waynesboro head coach Eric Mowen, whose team finished the season with a 7-10 record. “The kids wanted to win so bad. The effort was there, and when we had the opportunity to get pins, we got pins.”

It was Egolf, an unheralded but hard-nosed grappler who has wrestled up during the season, that brought the crowd to its feet and put an exclamation point on the season of the team’s seniors. Egolf shocked Cameron Demby by somehow escaping a cradle hold and turning Demby’s shoulders to the mat for a pin that gave the Indians a 43-21 lead.

All four seniors who wrestled won their respective matches, including three by pin.

Andrew Paterno won a war of attrition in the 220-pound match against Mark Shelley, 3-2, earning a takedown in the third period to snap a 1-1 tie after each wrestler earned escape points.

Egolf’s win not only sealed the team win but came at a point when the Mustangs were showing signs of a comeback. Kyle Boose recorded a pin in the 170-pound match to cut the deficit to 37-21. With a Waynesboro forfeit looming at 195 pounds, the 182-pound match suddenly became the swing match.

“Steven has wrestled up for us all year,” Mowen said. “He’s been a total team player. When Steven wrestles, he’s never out of a match. I’ve never seen a kid who can catch a kid like he can. He slipped out of a hold and pinned him. He was dead in the water. He was losing 5-0 and the kid locked up a far cradle and Steven slipped his arm out and posted up, and it was over.”

Demby appeared to have the strength advantage on Egolf, taking his counterpart down early in the first period and applying what looked like an unbreakable cradle. But Egolf somehow used his Houdini-like powers to break free and turn the tables on Demby.

Page 2 of 2 - “It was amazing,” Mowen said. “For us that was the turning point of the match. That momentum swing made a huge difference.”

Fellow seniors Colby Mowen (126) and Wes Cline (145) also won by pin, giving Waynesboro important bonus points. Mowen had been out of action due to injury since the Garden Spot Duals back on Jan. 26.

Aiden Smith (160) also won by fall, while Cody Frey (126) earned a major decision and daniel Shields scored a three-point decision in the 152-pound match.

Freshman 106-pounder Ryan Neff led the charge of the pin brigade, turning Michael Vital to the mat in just 38 seconds to tie the score at six. The Mustangs recorded a pin and a decision in the next two matches, including a low-scoring 2-0 win by Benjamin Allwein over Aaron Laymn in the 120-pound match.

Waynesboro will have a two-week layoff before the Section I tournament on Feb. 16.